Test #2 for EDUC 2130

Which of the following definitions best first a behaviorist’s conception of learning?

Learning is a change in an individual caused by experience.

In Pavlov's experiments with dogs, which of the following identifies the role of the bell (or tone), prior to conditioning? 

Neutral stimulus

In classical conditioning, the object or event that automatically elicits a behavior before the conditioning takes place is referred to as the: 

unconditioned stimulus

Classical conditioning focuses on physiological changes that occur due to the pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. What is the focus of operant conditioning? 

the relationship between a behavior and its consequence

Which of the following is a secondary reinforcer?

money

What is a primary reinforcer?

food

A secondary reinforcer takes on value: 

when it is associated with primary reinforcers

The three basic categories of secondary reinforcers are:

social, activity, and token

Whenever students turn in their homework, a teacher rewards them with computer time. The more often they turn in their homework, the more they are allowed to use the computers. Students have been turning in their homework with increasing frequency. Thus, the computer time is serving as a(n):

reinforcer

A reinforcer that allows a student to escape from an unpleasant situation is called a(n):

negative reinforcer

What type of reinforcer is being encountered when students enjoy taking a field trip (which is the reward itself)? 

intrinsic

What type of reinforcer is a gold star that a student receives as a reward for completing her homework? 

extrinsic

Which of the following examples best illustrates removal punishment? (assume that the undesirable behavior decreases after the consequence occurs). 

sending a student to the principal

Which of the following terms is defined as follows: applying unpleasant stimuli to decrease a target behavior? 

positive reinforcement

Consequences that weaken behavior are called:

punishers

Which of the following reinforcement procedures would be most appropriate for the classroom? 

Give immediate reinforcement when a desired behavior is observed

A coach is using a shaping technique to help a student work on a figure skating routine. According to behaviorists, all of the following strategies can be applied to assist the skater EXCEPT: 

withholding feedback

A teacher reinforces a child first for recognizing two letters of the alphabet, then for recognizing four, then six, and so on. The teacher is using a technique called: 

shaping

An English teacher wants students to begin writing paragraphs on various topics. How should the teacher proceed in explaining the parts of paragraph construction? 

teach the skills step by step, gradually shaping the final skill

A student is used to getting the attention of the teacher by making annoying sounds. One day the teacher decides to ignore the sounds by showing no reaction. Based on behavioral theory, what would be the expected outcome, assuming the teacher's attention was the reinforcer? 

The behavior will immediately increase in frequency, but then decrease over time.

Students receive a reward every third time they score 90 percent or higher on a test. What schedule is being used to reinforce the students? 

fixed ratio

Students do not know when a reinforcer is coming, but know that if they continue to do their work, it will eventually appear. The students are being reinforced on what type of schedule? 

variable ratio

A teacher spot-checks how students are doing by walking around the room, selecting students to observe at random and then reinforcing those who are working well. What type of schedule is being used? 

variable interval

At his locker, Rick is describing his exciting weekend to Tony, using very colorful and inappropriate language. Tony gestures down the hall to let Rick know that Sherri is approaching. Rick continues his story but instantly cleans up his language, sounding like a completely different person while Sherri walks by. Rick's adjustment of his behavior is based on: 

discrimination

A student learns to add blocks and later transfers this skill to adding sticks, and checkers. Educational psychologists would say that the student is demonstrating: 

generalization

Which of the following is the correct sequence of phases for understanding observational learning? 

attention, retention, reproduction, motivation

In Bandura's classic study on modeling, children who observed a film of an aggressive adult being punished: 

engaged in fewer aggressive acts during subsequent play than did the control group

Which of the following illustrates Bandura's concept of self-regulation?

A student engages in a desired activity after judging previous work as well done.

Attempts to train students to monitor their own behavior have: 

Shown success in helping students regulate their own behavior.

One way to help children engage in self-regulated learning is to provide them with this when assigning long or complex tasks. 

a task completion checklist

The cognitive theory of learning that describes how individuals take in, work with, store, and retrieve information about the world is called: 

information processing

Which component of memory best fits the description "in one ear and out the other"?

Sensory Register

One of the educational implications of the sensory register is that: 

without attention, information received by the senses is quickly lost, and will not be remembered. 

When the senses receive stimuli, the mind immediately begins working on some of them. Therefore, the sensory images of which we are conscious are not exactly the same as what we saw, heard, or felt. Which of the following terms relates most closely to these statements? 

Perception

Which of the following statements about attention is accurate? 

Attention is a limited resource

What is the name for the component of memory that holds current thoughts? 

Working memory

The process of maintaining a thought in working memory is called: 

rehearsal

Which of the following terms describes the capacity of working memory?

Limited

Human beings often complain about having poor memories. This inadequacy of the memory system is primarily due to: 

Difficulties in gaining access to information in long-term memory

A teacher tries to help a student recall an event that took place during a field trip to the natural history museum by saying, "Remember, it was the time when you went off to see the skeletons." Which memory component was most directly involved? 

episodic memory

Semantic memory would be most directly involved in trying to remember: 

Information from a textbook

Two students are shown a variety of tools in a woodworking class. The first one is asked to name the tools and the second is asked to indicate several possible uses of each tool. Later, they are asked to recall which tools they were shown. What would be predicted by levels-of-processing theory?

The second student will remember more tools

In the classic Peterson and Peterson (1959) study, subjects were asked to count backwards by threes while trying to memorize nonsense letters. A major implication of the findings was: 

interference occurs when people are unable to rehearse information in short-term memory

An educational application of the primacy and recency effect is to:

teach important materials at the beginning or end of class and deal with administrative tasks in the middle. 

How can teachers help their students to develop automaticity?

Be sure that certain parts of a task are practiced until they become second nature, so that more concentration can be given to other parts. 

A student remembers a long list of outdoor sculptures by imagining each piece on top of a different campus building, along Campus Drive. What memory strategy is being used? 

loci method

A student uses the term ROY G BIV to remember the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. What type of memory strategy is this? 

initial-letter

Rote learning can be characterized as: 

involving arbitrary associations

A visiting curriculum evaluation team criticized a school district for teaching too much inert knowledge. A disadvantage, they said, is that, according to educational psychologists, inert knowledge is: 

useless due to the students’ inability to apply it outside the classroom.

According to research, which of the following statements about note taking are TRUE?

1) It can be effective for certain types of material because it can require mental processing of main ideas;

2) The effects of note taking have been found to be inconsistent;

3) Note taking that requires some mental processing is more effective than simply writing down what was read;

4) Positive effects are less likely when note taking is used with complex, conceptual material in which the critical task is to identify the main ideas. 

1 2 3

What is the term for the process in which students identify main ideas and then diagram connections between them? 

mapping

A teacher planned to take a class to the art museum for the first time. Before the trip, the teacher shared prints illustrating how the artwork at the museum is grouped into historical periods. When the actual visit took place, students saw many works of art (for the first time) and were amazed at how readily they were learning to recognize them. The orientation process students experienced is referred to as: 

an advance organizer

What is the term used by cognitive psychologists to refer to the process of thinking about material to be learned in a way that connects the material to information or ideas already in the learner's mind? 

elaboration

According to the text author, which of the following strategies facilitates learning and remembering? 

organizing information into a hierarchy

Which of the following forms of test taking requires the learner to engage in high-level processing of content and thereby enhancing memory and understanding?

constructed response

According to research, which of the following have been identified as advantages of note-taking?

It requires mental processing

By engaging in this study strategy, a student identifies main ideas, then diagrams connections between them.

concept mapping

Graphs, charts, and tables can lose their effectiveness for organization if they

contain too much information

Which of the following statements about direct instruction is correct?

In a direct instruction lesson, teachers transmit information directly to students. 

What idea about direct instruction does recent research support?

Direct instruction can be more efficient than discovery in conceptual development

What is the first step of a direct instruction lesson? 

State the learning objectives and orient students to the lesson

Which step in a direct instruction lesson focuses on obtaining a brief student response to lesson content, in order to assess level of understanding and correct students' misconceptions? 

Conduct learning probes

Which of the following procedures is recommended for communicating objectives to students?

State objectives at the beginning of a lesson

To establish a positive mental set (the attitude of readiness) in students, a teacher needs to arouse student curiosity by: 

making the subject personally relevant to students

After students have been oriented to the lesson, the next major task in a lesson is to: 

be sure that students have mastered prerequisite skills

A teacher, in conducting a lesson, draws attention to what students had learned previously by saying, "Yesterday we learned how to find the area of a rectangle. Who will remind us how this is done?" The teacher believes that this brief reminder is sufficient because today's lesson—finding the area of a triangle—is a direct continuation of yesterday's. Which of the following strategies does the example reflect? 

reviewing prerequisites

A teacher begins a lesson in chemistry by discussing the symbols for each of the elements. Part way into the lesson the teacher refers to chapters and class work the students will have in six months. At another point the teacher expresses dissatisfaction with the administration's new policy regarding equipment security, which will now require more paperwork. The teacher then talks about an event that took place during spring vacation. The class period ends before the teacher finishes the lesson. What appears to be the overriding problem of the teacher's lecture style? 

There is a lack of clarity in the lesson presentation

Using humor in an introduction to a lesson is generally:

Positive, since it can establish a positive learning set

Which is most often the appropriate amount of time for a teacher to wait after asking a question? 

3 seconds

The length of time a teacher allows a student to answer a question, before moving the class along, is called: 

wait time

A teacher calls on a student and waits (about three seconds) for an answer. The teacher stays with the student who is having difficulty responding. How would your text author evaluate this approach? 

it is a good approach because it communicates positive expectations to the student

A teacher uses frequent questioning of students, calling on those who raise their hands to respond. Your textbook author would evaluate this procedure as: 

limited, because students who do not volunteer will escape having to respond. 

Which of the following recommendations regarding independent practice is appropriate? 

Keep the assignments fairly short

Retention of learned material is increased when practice is spaced over time. What implication does that statement have for teachers? 

Reviewing and recapitulating important information from earlier lessons enhances learning

A teacher is planning to have a whole-class discussion on the effects of television violence on children. Before beginning the discussion, what should the teacher do? 

The teacher should question students about their understanding of the effects of tv violence on children

A teacher has been using whole-class discussion but decides to try small-group discussion. What change will the teacher have to make? 

The teacher will have to appoint group leaders

Which of the following statements about small-group discussion is true?

Discussion topics may vary from group to group

Which of the following are important questions to ask when preparing a lesson?

	What prerequisite skills are needed?
	How will you maintain student interest?
	What teaching methods will you incorporate?

“The Democrats were wrong on this issue, weren’t they?” is an example of which pitfall of questioning strategies?

leading questions

A practice of effective teaching is to keep independent practice assignments:

short

A whole-class discussion differs from the traditional lesson in that the teacher

plays a less dominant role

The essence of constructivist theory is the idea that learners:

Individually discover and transform complex information

Which of the following teacher roles best captures the philosophy of the constructivist approach?

guide on the side

According to constructivist thought, as it draws on Vygotsky's theories, four key concepts for classroom instruction are zone of proximal development; cognitive apprenticeship; scaffolding or mediated learning; and:

social learning

Which of the following learning strategies would a constructivist be LEAST likely to advocate?

drill and practice

Constructivist approaches to teaching typically make extensive use of cooperative learning. Why is this?

Students understand concepts better if they can talk with each other

Which of the following applies to discovery learning?

Teachers encourage students to experiment and discover.

What type of instruction is emphasized by constructivist approaches?

Top-down

A student knows how to break complex problems into simpler steps, how and when to skim, and how and when to read for deep understanding. What key concept of constructivist theories of learning defines this student?

self-regulated learner

Which of the following statements best characterizes scaffolding?

The teacher gradually assigns the students more responsibility for their learning.

While discovery learning promotes the advantage of arousing student curiosity and motivation, pure discovery learning is less common than:

guided discovery learning where the teacher gives clues and structures portions of an activity.

In order to bring about effective instruction, excellent lesson preparation is not sufficient. Teachers must also accomplish all of the following EXCEPT:

make the correct assumptions about what students know coming into a lesson.

All of the following are characteristics of students with learning disabilities, EXCEPT:

below normal intelligence

Definitions of learning disabilities have recently been significantly changed by:

Response to intervention

Which of the following best describes reciprocal teaching?

The teacher asks a small group of students questions about material they have just read. Later, the students model the teacher's behavior, generating their own questions for the group. 

Students are using the reciprocal teaching method in a small reading group. They would use all of the following procedures EXCEPT: 

Completing a test and rereading the passage if unsuccessful

A teacher is initiating reciprocal teaching with a group of six students of high, average, and low ability. Who should be the teacher for the first segment of learning? 

the teacher

What is the first step for students (after reading a passage) when using a reciprocal teaching approach in reading? 

Generate questions

In the constructivist writing process model and mathematics instruction approach, students work: 

in small groups or teams working together

According to Slavin, each student in a Jigsaw II cooperative learning group receives a topic on which to: 

become an expert